Bitter
by AvalancheSymphony
Summary: Shackled to her past, Eona settles into the uncomfortable juncture between what is and what could have been. SPOILERS FOR EONA, DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T COMPLETED THE SECOND BOOK.


Disclaimer: I do not own Eon or Eona. All rights to their respective owners.

WARNING: IF YOU HAVE NOT READ _**EONA**_, RUN AWAY NOW. This is my loose version of an _**EPILOGUE**_ for Eona. Major _**spoiler**_ warning.

Don't say I didn't tell you so!

-xXx-

I return to that dais at least once a month. Sometimes I visit the Dragon Mirrors, still sitting in their grand hall, and I cry.

The loss of my beautiful red dragon itched and tore at my soul like a canker. But I knew she was free – she was where she belonged and no longer a slave to human will.

That was the only thing that made it bearable. The loss of my power hit me hard, and my _Hua_ felt so small and weak compared to the _Hua _I possessed when in communion with the Mirror Dragon. Often, I would reach into the energy world and call her name. Eona, maybe not even Eona anymore, would turn her great horse-like head to look at me, and there was recognition – but it was small, only a shadow of a whisper. She knew she knew me, but that was all.

And Ido's face would not leave my mind alone either. He had taken it once, and I know that the scars he left behind are what conjure his face and his hands against my skin. _You do not have the steel to be a true queen._

His voice, so serpentine in its deceiving allure, echoed sharply in my mind. But I was Empress, a queen. Was I a true queen? I pushed it aside. Now was not the time for such things.

Before me, the elders of the reconstructed council were bickering amongst one another. Emperor Kygo sat several lengths away in a private discussion with his new general, Keto, and upon looking at the Emperor's beautiful face I was reminded of the struggle we endured to give him that title. Many followed him willingly, and many did not. It had been a long, long two year struggle.

I looked at his throat, still expecting to see the Imperial Pearl, the _Hua_ of All Men resting there. It was not, nor were there any red marks to indicate its removal.

The Mirror Dragon had erased the evidence of our past from our bodies…but…

"Empress?" I shifted my gaze from my husband to the little man kneeling before me.

"Speak."

My voice was so harsh now…so harsh that I had instilled unnecessary fear in many of my closest council.

"My brethren and I have reached a decision, and we require your approval." I nodded receptively, a little curious. Why ask me when they have not done so before?

"We would ask that you open the Dragon Mirrors to public view…so that the people do not forget." Ah. It was a reasonable request, as the horrors we committed for the sake of power and the legacy of Dragon and Dragoneye should not be forgotten…but a pang of sadness shook my core.

The Dragon Mirrors were my secret, my sanctuary, the only place that I felt close to the Mirror Dragon…and the Rat Dragon.

But I was Empress. I had my kingdom to think about, the future of my children…My hand found the growing swell of my stomach and I closed my eyes.

_Do not forget…_

I nodded once, opening my eyes to gaze forlornly at the lush carpet at my feet. "Make it so."

xXx

It was strange, many years later, to sit upon a balcony where tourists could not see me and gaze at the well kept Dragon Mirrors. Tour guides spoke the truth, of that I made certain, and adult and child alike were captivated by the beauty of the heroics of the Emperor, the Empress, and their allies …so long ago.

But their eyes did not hold the same awestruck wonder as the soldiers' who stood in the plain and gazed upon all twelve Dragons as they watched their death…and their rebirth. The young did not understand. They would never truly _know _the majesty of the Mirror Dragon, or the dark power of the black folio, the rush of catching lightning, nor the pull of the desperate campaign of my ancestress, Kinra.

Only I knew. Not even Kygo could empathize with the pain I experienced when I remembered my lost past.

But it was pain I had endured, and I would endure again. I pushed myself, slowly, painstakingly, from my chair and began the slow trek to Rilla's grave, ignoring the silver-amber eyes that flashed and taunted my mind.

xXx

A/N: This was darker than may have been expected, and I intended for it to be that way. Eona was torn between her dark, forbidden lust for Ido and her genuine, confusing love for Kygo. It is hard to distinguish between the two.

I also did not intend to write a full-out detailed explanation of where the kingdom went. This was just a peek, from my imaginary perspective, of Eona's future as Kygo's beloved and the Last Dragoneye, locked within the sorrows of her pasts.

Review please, and I hope you enjoyed.


End file.
